Call for Contributions: Le Petit Prince in African Languages: Translation and Critical Perspectives

This workshop aims to examine how Le Petit Prince travels across linguistic and cultural contexts in Africa. We are interested in exploring how translation not only transfers meaning but actively reshapes it. By bringing translators and scholars into conversation, we hope to create a space where practice and theory inform one another.

In particular, we are interested in:

• How translators have approached the text, including their strategies, challenges, and creative choices
• How scholars focusing on Africa have engaged critically with the book and its translations
• How meaning shifts across different linguistic, cultural, and epistemic frameworks

By placing translation and scholarship in dialogue, the project aims to deepen understanding of how a globally circulating text is reimagined, adapted, and interpreted in African languages.

We wish to engage in:

• How translators have translated, or are currently translating, Le Petit Prince into an African language
• What translation strategies and practices have been employed
• Contributions on the analysis of existing translations, their reception and readership

Please submit a brief statement (200–300 words) outlining:

• Your background (academic or translation)
• Your language(s) of interest
• A short indication of how you would like to contribute to the workshop

Optional:

• A sample translation (for translators)
• A short abstract (for academics)
  
   

Please send your submission to cas@soas.ac.uk  with the title: Le Petit Prince. 

Abstract and sample deadline: 1st July 2026 (please submit by June 10th if you need a visa for the UK)

We plan to have the workshop by 29 July 2026.

Further information

Email: Ida Hadjivayanis  ih11@soas.ac.uk